Mistaken Identity
by SupernaturalSlayer
Summary: Prequel to "Wherever I May Roam" Buffy has always been the normal child in the Winchester family. That is about to change.
1. Chapter 1

**Mistaken Identitiy**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Buffy and her family belong to Joss Whedon and co, and the Winchesters belong to Eric Kripke and co.

Summary: Buffy has always been the normal child in the Winchester family, but that is about to change.  
Time-line: Set before both first seasons of Buffy and Supernatural.  
A/N: This is a prequel to my WIP "Wherever I May Roam", set when Buffy finds out she is the Slayer before moving to Sunnydale. This is most probably going to be very short and basically, you should know what happened pre-Sunnydale. I'm basing most of this on the graphic novel Origin, with a mix of the movie and Joss Whedon's original script. This is what happens in between, if Buffy had older brothers and an overprotective father who hunt demons, following in line with my other story, WIMR.

* * *

Buffy slowly sat down on her bed, wiping the tears from her face. She could hear her aunt and uncle arguing downstairs, the sound filtering through her slightly open door. She stared at her cell phone, lying on the bed. Her Aunt and Uncle didn't know she had it, and neither did any of the other kids at school. It had been given to her by her father in case she ever needed them in an emergency. Them meaning her dad, John Winchester and her older brothers, Sam and Dean.

She was so lost and didn't know what to do, and desperately needed some guidance. And after what Sam and Dean had told her last year, she knew they would be able to help. She reached for the phone, all the while listening out for her Aunt and Uncle, not wanting them to know she was calling her brother. Uncle Hank didn't like Dean, he said he was trouble and was nothing more than a con man. And Aunt Joyce wouldn't have understood. She didn't want to call her father because for one thing she didn't know how he would react. He had left her here in L.A. with her Aunt to keep her safe. But now she was the Slayer…She just knew he wouldn't be pleased. To put it mildly.

She hit Dean's number on speed dial and listened as it rang for the familiar sound of her brother's voice. After ringing several times, it went straight to voicemail. Buffy bit her lip tearfully, needing to hear a comforting voice, "Dean?" She sobbed, "It's me, Buffy. I guess you, Dad and Sam are busy on a hunt or something, but I really need your help. Something really bad's happened and…I don't know what to do…I need you, Dean…" she stared sorrowfully at the cell phone before pushing end. She put the phone away, hoping Dean would get her message soon and come get her. She wanted to get as far away from Los Angeles as possible.

Dean trudged tiredly into the run down rented apartment, dropping the duffel bag by the door, followed by Sam and their Dad. It had been a relatively easy job, although probably not for the poor family living in the house. And probably not for Sam who had nearly been strangled by the spirit. How many times was that now? Too many to remember in his exhausted state of mind, but Sammy had sworn it wouldn't happen again.

He looked over for his little brother and noticed that both he and his Dad had already disappeared into their bedrooms for the evening. Deciding that that was a good idea, he went into his and Sammy's shared bedroom and got ready for bed, stripping down to his boxers and t-shirt. Before climbing into bed he dropped his cell phone onto the table, but then noticed that he had a message. He frowned. Should he check it now or later? It could be important. He retrieved his cell from the table and went to voicemail, The message was over a week old. He frowned deeply as he recognized his little sister's voice and heard how upset she was. As if by magic, all of the exhaustion left his body and he immediately hung up and got dressed, quickly grabbing his bag on the way out the front door. He jogged out to the Impala, and was out of the apartment parking lot with a loud screech of the tires. Tired or not. His little sister needed him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Mistaken Identity**

A/N: Sorry for the shortness of the chapters, I hope to get more up soon.

* * *

Dead. He was dead.

Buffy slowly dropped to her knees, staring almost unseeing at the body lying on the ground in front of her. Part of her knew she should leave. If she was found there…

But she couldn't make herself leave. Merrick had been the only one who had known what she was. What she was meant to do. Buffy didn't know anything. She had just started to really get to know him. They were becoming friends. He was supposed to tell her what to do. He wasn't supposed to get himself killed! He wasn't supposed to leave her alone.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but all around her was quiet. The only sound was the rustle of the trees, litter blowing across the street like tumbleweeds. No one in this area would notice her or the body of her late Watcher and almost friend. No one would mourn him.

Buffy's eyes suddenly registered that they were bathed in the light of headlights from an oncoming car. The car pulled up inches in front of her and the driver jumped out of the car and came straight for her. She looked up, squinting, but was unable to recognize the person due to the glare.

"Buffy!"

Buffy frowned as she thought she recognized her older brother's voice, "Dean?"

She was suddenly grabbed by the arms from behind and dragged away from Merrick's lifeless body. She let Dean pull her away, grabbing on to his arms for support. "What the hell is going on?! Who is that?"

Buffy just looked blankly at Dean, "That's Merrick."

Dean gave her a quick once over. She was all right, but covered in the guy's blood. He frowned at her. She wasn't being herself, something was wrong. Since when was his baby sister involved at a crime scene?? "Buffy, what is going on??"

Buffy looked back to the body on the ground, but Dean held her face and moved it back to face him, "They killed him."

Dean was confused. But they didn't have time for that now. They were at a crime scene, and Buffy was covered in the guy's blood. They had to leave, "We are going to talk about this later. But right now, we need to get out of here. Come on!" Dean yanked off his jacket and wrapped it around Buffy's shoulders, covering her bloodstained cheerleader's uniform. Buffy followed Dean to the Impala and climbed into the passenger's side, before slamming the door. Dean quickly drove away from the scene, making a note to come back later when his sister was safely back at the motel room. He glanced over at her, only to see her staring blankly out of the window. He turned his gaze back to the road with a sigh, wondering just what the hell his innocent little sister had gotten herself involved with.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry for the ridiculously long wait. But now I've graduated college and now actually have free time. With my luck, just as I was finishing my final assignment, my laptop actually broke. It was fixed and returned to me yesterday with a brand new hard drive and thankfully they saved all my files! So here's the next part of this story, and I will be working on more soon! Hope you enjoy it! x

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Buffy sat on the bed in the motel room and stared at the TV until Dean came and turned it off. She frowned at him for taking away her distraction. Dean was giving her that look. That annoying big brother look that demanded to know what was going on. She sighed and looked down, not sure if she could talk about this, or even look at him.

Dean frowned. He knew something big was up. He had gotten an urgent message from her days earlier pleading with him to come and help her, and then when he gets there he finds this?? "Buffy. I need to know what's going on. First of all, I get a message from you on my voicemail, crying, saying you need my help. So I drop *everything* and haul ass as fast as I can. Then I get here and go to your house, only to find that you have been missing all night and Aunt Joyce is freaking out thinking you had been kidnapped! By *me*, no less. So I drive around all of Los-friggin-Angeles searching for you, and then I find you huddled over a dead guy in the middle of the street, covered in his blood! Buffy, what the hell is going on?!"

Dean hadn't known what kind of response to expect. He half expected her to ignore him, or at least blow up at him about how it was none of his business. He did not expect her to burst into tears. He immediately felt bad. What was it about Buffy and Sam that made Dean cave so easily. It must be the eyes, he figured, those damn puppy eyes that everyone else in his family seemed to have mastered, except him. Dean sat next to her on the bed and Buffy immediately climbed into his arms, crying into his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry, unsure what he could do to make her feel better.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"You gonna tell me what's going on now?"

Buffy sighed, she had to tell him sooner or later. Maybe this way Dean could be the one to tell their Dad. She mumbled, "I'm the Slayer."

"You're the what?!"

Buffy wouldn't, no, couldn't look at him. She didn't want to see the look on his face when she told him what she was, "The Slayer. She who hangs out in cemeteries. In every generation-"

"I know what a friggin Slayer is! You are the Slayer? *You*? It's not some kind of mistake? Some piss-poor attempt at a joke? You're sure?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "I'm sure, Dean."

Dean ignored the attitude, "No. No way. No way is my baby sister going out there and hunting demons!"

"I don't exactly have a choice, Dean."

"Of course you do! Why do you think Dad left you with Aunt Joyce and Uncle Hank to begin with? Dad wanted you out of this. He wanted you safe, all of us did. And now you're telling me that you're going out there every night, *hunting alone*, putting yourself in danger, risking the very thing we fight for?!

Buffy had had enough. She leapt to her feet, whirling around to stare Dean down, her voice fraught with anger and desperation, "I didn't choose this, Dean! Do you really think I enjoy hunting vampires every night?! I used to be Homecoming queen. I used to be a cheerleader. I was on the Dance committee! The only thing I had to worry about was homework and having this month's hair! And now I'm just supposed to give up my perfectly normal life for a life of demons and darkness? It's not fair! And now you're yelling at me because of something I never asked for and can't change!"

Buffy sat back down, the anger draining out of her "I tried to quit, I told them to pick someone else. But they couldn't, and then the vampires started hunting me…This whole thing is my fault. Merrick wouldn't be dead if I had just accepted it instead of fighting with him all the time. I'm the Slayer, I should have been the one protecting him, not the other way around."

"Buffy! Do not blame yourself. This isn't your fault!"

Buffy ignored him, her eyes filling with tears remembering the events that took place merely hours ago, "He put a gun in his mouth to protect me..."

"What?"

"Why would he do that, Dean? Why would he do that?" Buffy's voice cracked as the tears spilled free and flowed down her face.

Dean knelt down beside his distraught little sister, "Well, I didn't know the guy personally, but…it sounded like he cared about you."

"But why did he have to shoot himself!" She threw herself into Dean's arms, not knowing what else to do. Her big brother had always been there for her and he always knew what to do to make things better.

Dean silently held Buffy for a moment, "I would have done it."

Buffy wrenched herself away from him with a look of horror on her face, "What?!"

"Well...if some powerful vampire that I didn't think I could beat was going to turn me, I would rather off myself than risk him using me to get to you. Or Sam."

Buffy looked down, tears in her eyes, "Don't say that."

"It's true, Buffy. I would do it in an instant. You're my baby sister, it's my job to keep you safe. What that guy did...well, he's earned a place in my good books. He kept you safe."

Buffy was silent for a moment. She knew Dean meant well, and she was sure that if some demon or vampire were going to kill either of her brothers that she would also do the same, no matter what Dean thought. But now she was alone. She didn't have Dean, Sam and her Dad around to back her up. The three of them worked as a team, but all she had was Merrick, and now she was alone. She didn't know if she could face hunting monsters alone. "What am I going to do now? Merrick was the one who was teaching me about being a Slayer, the only one who knew. Now that he's gone, what am I supposed to do? I don't know anything about this stuff. I'm all alone."

Dean frowned at her, not liking what she was saying, in fact he was almost insulted, "Take that back, right now. You are *never* alone. You've got me, Dad and Sammy. We're always there for you."

Buffy shook her head, "You're always god knows where, hunting things. I never get to see you."

"We're out there trying to find Mom's killer, you know that. We're trying to make the world safer. Safer for you. And if it means that I have to stay here in L.A. to protect you, then that's what I'll do."

Buffy looked up at that with an expression of surprise on her face, "Really? You'd do that?"

Dean met her eyes seriously, "I mean it. If that's what you need, then I'll stay."

Buffy bit her lip and thought for a moment. Could she really ask Dean to stay with her just because she was scared? She really wanted her big brother with her, but she knew how much he enjoyed the hunt and didn't want to force him to stay if he didn't really want to. She anxiously met his gaze, "If you want...I'd like you to stay."

Dean nodded resolutely, "Then I'm staying. But first thing in the morning, we are calling Dad." Upon seeing her anxious expression, he took her hand and gave it a supportive squeeze, "Don't worry. I'll tell Dad about the Slayer thing, if you want."

Buffy nodded gratefully, "Please."

"He's not gonna take it well, you know that. But he's our Dad, he'll back us up, no question. Screw all that Slayer lore crap. You don't have to do this alone, Buffy. You're not alone."


End file.
